GrillComb revisits shish kebab skewer design

Some pieces of everyday kit are just begging for an update. The shish kebab skewer is one of those pieces. Despite being the tool for delicious, juicy grilled meat, fish and vegetables, a little tweaking could make the skewer a lot more functional. The Grill Comb provides a solid dose of said tweaking.

In the absence of a rotisserie grill optimized for the perfect kebab, some home chefs do all or most of their shish kebab cooking on the direct heat of a grill. While the skewer does a good job at organizing small, disparate hunks of animal and vegetable flesh into a grill-top-friendly package, it plummets in utility when it's time to rotate the meat, an integral part of direct-heat cooking. Rounded skewers complete the perfect 180-degree rotation with some of the food, while leaving other pieces half turned or not turned at all. Result: uneven cooking. Plus a particularly large, heavy kebab can be difficult to grab and turn at all.

The GrillComb should pave the way for easier, properly cooked kebabs. True to its name, the single-serving-sized GrillComb has a series of teeth that serve to hold your food in place. Like a skewer, you can pile food pieces on top of each other so the juices and flavors blend together in a delectable, savory orgy of deliciousness. Unlike a skewer, the GrillComb rotates all of your food in one simple motion. Just grab hold of the handle with a pair of tongs and flip it over; it doesn't even look like you need to pick it up off the grill. There should be no more uncooperative, half-raw chunks of meat at the dinner table.

The GrillComb's short teeth should be a bit easier to load up than the long, sharp shaft of a skewer. They also allow you to easily pick items off one by one.

The downside - GrillComb is significantly more expensive than the average metal or bamboo skewer, but not prohibitively so. A set of two retails for US$11. Before committing, you'll probably want to compare the price and build to other skewers, like double-pronged models, that offer similar benefits.

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I don't really see how this is any better then a simple skewer. am I missing something.. I mean skwers are easy to put food on this looks like while putting some offd on others might fall off. Skewers are supper easy to get all the food off.. this looks like it wold be a pain.. The only thing I think this would be better at is rotating the food... That said I think there would be more damage to the veg and when they cooked they would very likely to fall off unpredictably.

Michael Mantion

I just use 2 pieces of bamboo per kabob.

Slowburn

Sorry, but this is worse than a standard skewer..... looks like it's designed for 2 sided cooking rather than full rotation at multiple angles. I'd agree with Slowburn here, or alternatively just use a skewer that is flat like a narrow blade so that food rotates in unison.

JPAR

Initially it looks like a good idea, but you can't rotate it, only turn it over. Also grabbing the end to turn it is not so easy. As mentioned, bits can drop off. It is easier to eat items off it.

windykites1

What I don't see is what kind of metal it is made of. Some of us are avoiding aluminum for any food prep. What metal is it made of?

Williebe

Kabob baskets have been available for a long time now from Farberware among other companies, which surround and hold the food without piercing it. They cost about the same as these GrillCombs, and they can be rotated to any of four sides.